


May 2017

by ArtisticVicu



Series: Monthly Prompt Writings [8]
Category: Original Work
Genre: Escape, Gen, Grief, Loss, Original Character(s), Physical Disability, Sign Language, magical accident, multiple stories
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-03
Updated: 2017-08-03
Packaged: 2021-03-01 04:21:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 4,035
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23418910
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ArtisticVicu/pseuds/ArtisticVicu
Summary: Each chapter is a different story.Chapter 1:It wasn't the first - and certainly wouldn't be the last - that Tai Hao found himself in an unfortunate position. At least he had Levine with him. The polecat was a much appreciated companion. Hard to stitch up a shoulder wound with one hand.Chapter 2:He used the nearest chunk of building to keep himself upright as he took another look around from the new perspective. Yep, still no fricken clue where he was. Man, his dad was going to kill him. And then his Dunkle was going to ground him for the rest of his natural born life and then some. He groaned. He was not looking forward to seeing his family.Chapter 3:The words were spoken in a whisper but she heard them clearly and they hurt. They hurt so much. But she didn't have any tears left to cry. Stuck in a sort of painful limbo, she pressed her face into her hand, wallowing in turbulent emotions she had no names for.
Series: Monthly Prompt Writings [8]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1684405





	1. Barrel

"I'm not sure this is the wisest of choices, Tai Hao," his companion informed him, watching as he shoved at the barrel and rolled it across the floor.  
  
"Nonsense! This will work perfectly," Tai Hao countered happily, a mischievous grin on his face. His companion didn't believe him and expression and stance translated that well. He couldn't help the chuckle. "Come on, Levine. It's not that horrible."  
  
"Says the one shoving a highly explosive barrel," muttered the polecat. "Look, I don't care how perfectly this will go. It's a bad idea."  
  
Tai Hao shrugged. "If it works, it works. What's a few missing hairs."  
  
"Says the wolf!" Levine countered sharply. "I am not as big as you, let alone as hardy."  
  
Tai Hao gave one last shove and turned at a run. He scooped Levine up, grinning. "All the better. If you were any bigger, this wouldn't work."  
  
He shoved Levine up the small opening, following as quickly as he could. Levine pulled at his shirt but it helped little. Tai Hao made it up through the gap just as the first explosion rocked the floor. Tai Hao scooped Levine up again. "Out of time."  
  
Down the hall, up the stair, round a corner, down another corridor, another corner, a second followed by a third set of stairs, and they reached the deck of the ship as a final blast rocked the entire vessel, blowing out a section of hull on the bow's port side.  
  
Chaos ensued.  
  
Tai Hao raced across the deck with Levine clinging to his back. Tai Hao had hoped to have gained a few seconds of cover from the confusion but he was spotted instantly.  
  
"Stop them! Don't let them escape!"  
  
Tai Hao growled. There was a flash of steel and he met saber with saber. He threw the assailant off, using the momentum to keep going forward. They had to make it to the long boat before the rest of the crew realized just how screwed they were but said crew kept getting in his way.  
  
As the ship started to list, the Captain cut him off and Tai Hao skidded to a stop, hissing in displeasure.  
  
"Get to the long boat, Levine," Tai Hao ordered.  
  
"But-"  
  
"No," he snarled, cutting him off. "Go. I'm right behind you."  
  
Levine removed Tai Hao's knife from its sheath at the small of the wolf's back before dashing off. The crew went after him but Levine was quick and was out of sight in an instant. The Captain bade the polecat no mind, eyes solely focused on Tai Hao.  
  
"You have been a pain in my side since we swept you up, landlubber," the Captain growled.  
  
Tai Hao shrugged. "More of a seadog than you know, Captain," he offered with a smirk, his body appearing relaxed as he played confidence acting as if the Captain wasn't the threat he really was. "I'd show you a few pointers but you might hurt yourself."  
  
The Captain lunged at him. Tai Hao misjudged his ability to dodge fast enough and received a slice across his shoulder for his mistake. Still, it got him in close and he buried the hilt of his saber into the Captain's gut. Said Captain was hardier than that and pain erupted on the same shoulder Tai Hao had already injured as the Captain's own hilt drove itself into the joint. Falling to a knee, Tai Hao brought his sword about and sliced the underside of the Captain's sword arm. Blood gushed over his head and shoulders, the low angle of attack not the greatest of ideas but it was effective. The Captain jerked away and Tai Hao dashed around him.  
  
"KILL HIM!"  
  
Tai Hao internally winced at the roar. Of course he would gain the Captain's wrath with a move like that. Not to mention, if he hit the artery, the man would bleed out if it wasn't attended to soon. He ignored the guilt that ate at him. He could wallow in self misery about no longer being a pacifist later.  
  
Levine was holding his own rather poorly but enough that the long boat was still theirs. Tai Hao took out Levine's assailants and wrapped an arm around the polecat one last time, throwing him into the long boat before diving in after him. "Hang on!" he shouted before cutting the ties.  
  
The boat gave out from under them and Tai Hao found his stomach in his throat. They hit the water hard and he slammed into the bench, certain he felt a few ribs crack. With pain lacing through his body with each movement, he shoved himself towards the oars and grabbed them both. He had received worse injuries than this and had to do a lot more than simply row with them. This was nothing.  
  
By the time they had a league between them and what remained of the sunken ship, Tai Hao pulled the oars in, groaning as his entire body screamed at him. Levine shifted behind him, groaning as well but for a separate reason.  
  
"Ah, what happened?" Levine asked, looking about. "We made it?"  
  
Tai Hao covered his bleeding shoulder, now feeling the effects of blood loss. "Yeah, we did. I take it you hit your head with our landing?"  
  
Levine nodded, making his way over. Somehow - miraculously - Levine's glasses had remained on his face and intact through the whole ordeal, meaning that the polecat could see a lot more than hazy shapes. His small hands moved Tai Hao's and there was a sharp intake of breath from the smaller creature. "Tai Hao, you're supposed to protect yourself, not get skewered in every fight," Levine chided.  
  
Tai Hao chuckled weakly. "Trust me. I would if I could but he was a lot faster than I had anticipated."  
  
Levine hummed. "Well, at least it's a clean slice. Will make patching you up all that easier." Tai Hao involuntarily flinched when Levine prodded the wound rather forcefully. "Even with you making it worse by rowing so.....aggressively."  
  
Tai Hao gave him a flat look. "Hey, you were asleep while I was rowing. As far as you know, I had caught a swift current." Levine met his gaze with an equally flat look. Tai Hao conceded. "Ok, so I could have been a bit more careful rowing."  
  
Levine gave a curt nod in acknowledgment before moving to grab the first aid kit. Tai Hao looked back at the wreckage, his entire being feeling heavy with guilt of the actions he had taken to stay alive and make it back home.


	2. Overflow

The first thing he noticed was the ringing in his skull. It was high, sharp, and painful. He winced, subsequently agitating other injuries. His entire went from numb to on fire in that one motion and he let out a sharp his, forcing his left socket open. He couldn't seem to get the view in focus and his magic was acting weird. He knew he had no pupil present, he could feel that, and being unable to form one meant that there was something terribly wrong. He had the magic for it, it just wouldn't form. He opened his other socket and felt the magic automatically fill the void, creating the soft spot of an eye light that was the useless pupil of his blind eye. Great. He was more or less blind, then.  
  
He tried to move only for a cry of pain to rip itself from his throat. His entire left arm was on fire and the pain in the same hip was crippling. He felt tremors course over his bones, his magic sputtering all about trying to heal the injuries he was irritating. He focused, taking in stock of what his magic was doing; it was a pointless endeavor.  
  
There was too much damage. He had sustained more than his magic knew how to deal with, meaning that there was no order to the process and being unable to see or really distinguish the injuries he had sustained, he had no way of directing the chaos without an outside source. He closed his sockets, trying really hard to relax as his magic worked frantically to heal everything at once.  
  
When he came to again, he was able to see better than the first time he had awoke, though it was not still not up to par. Everything was still blurry outside a given radius but now he could look at himself and take in the damage he had sustained.  
  
He retched at the sight. He pressed a shaking hand to his teeth, pupils gone from both sockets as he took in the information.  
  
He should be dead. There was no way in the Undergrounds that he should be alive. Why was he alive?!  
  
He forced his pupils to reform, bringing the world into a tighter focus. He looked around, searching for anything that told him why he was still alive, but the only things around him that he could distinguish was the dirt churned by whatever had happened and hunks of material that looked like rock and metal. There were no other bodies, no piles of dust.  
  
His gaze snapped down to his person but he was dust free.  
  
H-how? How was this possible?! He should be dead! He was not a strong monster!! He was weak, and frail like his dad! Like his pa! He shouldn't be alive! He shouldn't-he shouldn't....  
  
Something wet hit his hand and he blinked, finding his vision clearing as another drop of liquid hit his hand. Tears. Magical tears. He gave a dry laugh. He was crying. He was crying because he was alive and he shouldn't be.  
  
His started to laugh hysterically. He had truly lost it. That was it. He had finally lost it after so long!  
  
A sob choked him in the middle of a hysterical laugh. He pressed his hand to his face as he tried to laugh hysterically and sob at the same time.  
  
It only made him vomit.  
  
The sour taste of half digested magic broke through whatever he had been in the middle of and he came to as if he had awoken for a third time staring down at the discharged magic. Swallowing thickly, he wiped at his mouth, wishing he had some water.  
  
Finally, the world around him was coming into clear focus and he let out a whimper. He didn't recognize where he was, but that could be due to the evidence of the explosion he was certain he had miraculously survived. He felt the last of magic healing his injuries dissipate. Not overly skilled in healing magic, it was no surprise that it still hurt to move but he was able to get to his feet, even if it was unsteadily.  
  
He used the nearest chunk of building to keep himself upright as he took another look around from the new perspective. Yep, still no fricken clue where he was. Man, his dad was going to kill him. And then his Dunkle was going to ground him for the rest of his natural born life and then some. He groaned. He was not looking forward to seeing his family.  
  
A part of him knew that, while they would be upset that he had been at the labs without permission, they would be beyond relieved that he was alive and in - mostly - one piece. Only issue was that he had no idea where he was.  
  
In what he could only deduce as two hours later without an actual clock to look at - he had lost his phone in all the chaos and it would honestly not surprise him if the thing was destroyed - he sat down on the dirt, feeling as if he was going in circles. He moaned, tightening the arm currently wrapped around his still fractured ribs. He had discovered they were still fractured after a rather stupid stunt and he had bound them as best he could but still they hurt if he moved the wrong way. He was finding as the day wore on that any move was the wrong way.  
  
He opened his eyes, finding it hard to stay awake. He had never realized how large the forest was in these parts and the snow was not helping. He was grateful he was a skeleton but he could still succumb to hypothermia just like any other monster not built for chilling temperatures. He would be fine as long as he didn't fall asleep but, right now, sleep seemed like the greatest thing to do.  
  
He shoved himself upwards, swaying so badly that he slammed his shoulder into a tree and managed to scrape at the bark to keep himself upright. The sudden surge of pain worked wonders at waking him up in that instant. Hissing, he summoned his magic, leaving it formless so that it supported him more fully and used it to straighten himself out. He eased up his control and the magic dissipated completely.  
  
The indignant squawk that left him he would deny fiercely and take the fact to his grave. Thankfully, his magic was a step ahead of him. His panic had flared magic out of his right socket - which, honestly, was far easier than his left seeing as the right one was already damaged to begin with - and sent a burst of magic to form between him and the ground.  
  
Instead of hitting the ground, he barely fell a few inches before something pressed up against him, catching him. Opening his sockets, magic still spilling from his right socket like a flame, he found himself laying across a massive skull. It was so large, he could fit himself, his Dunkle, and his dad in there and they would still have room to move about comfortably. Heck, he and his dad could sit up within the maw. He stared, wide-eyed at the beast of a skull and the only thought that came to mind was _dragon_. He squealed in delight - and nearly fell backwards with the sudden upward momentum of joy. The skull reacted and careful teeth closed around what fabric still remained on his small frame, keeping him from falling to the ground for a second time. He instantly leaned forward, laying across the snout of the skull and resting his chin on it, patting where his hands rested outstretched. "I can't believe it," he croaked, his throat feeling raw. It wasn't much of a surprise. He needed some water when he had first woken up and he still hadn't found any. "This'll make finding home all that much easier."  
  
There was very little thought that needed to go into getting the skull to do what he needed it to do. In fact, it was so effortless, that he nearly thought the thing was sentient. He'd have to ask his dad if the things had any sentience to them. Or his Dunkle. They both were able to summon them. He had seen them on a few, rare occasions.  
  
The skull shifted, scooping it onto the snout properly. He shifted about till he was settled in and the skull took to the air. He could feel it using his magic but it didn't feel like a strain and it wasn't using magic quickly. As soon as they rose above the trees, though, he shivered. The trees had been blocking most of the wind and now he was fully exposed. Pressing closer to the skull, he felt more than heard it hum, a pool of magic forming in the back of the skull's mouth. It warmed the bone beneath him and, while it wasn't quite enough to warm him up completely, it did mitigate the freezing air enough that he stopped shivering.  
  
He could definitely feel the pull on his magic now but he _knew_ he could generate about four more of these things, charge them multiple times, and fire the blast without even taking a fifth of his magic. It left him baffled. He had been so used to having only enough magic to keep his body together, he never dreamed suddenly having an overflow of magic to the point of creating things he never dreamed he would be able to produce.  
  
Shifting about, he looked down on the fog in the forest that had been obscuring the majority of his long distance view while he had been in it. He was close to the edge of the forest's border with the warmer climate region that followed, which meant-  
  
He looked up. Sure enough, the ceiling had dropped significantly at a sharp slant, plateauing out above his head a good hundred or two feet over the treetops. It would do another sheer drop till the warmer climate region turned into caverns.  
  
He knew where he was at, finally. He had been heading in a good direction at least. He was rather close to the warmer region and would have reached its waters within the day. But, this way, he didn't have to backtrack.  
  
The skull turned around, pointing towards home. Even from this distance, he could see all of the town he called home situated in the heart of the forest, and on the edge closest to him was the lacking view of the lab. He pushed the skull forward and the thing took off like a bullet. He let out a whoop of surprise and excitement as he shot through the air. The icy wind stunk his eye sockets and magic built up and spilled out of them like tears.  
  
He collided with something.  
  
Something rather fluffy wrapped around him and he clung to the fluffy mass, finding it fantastically warm. He nuzzled into it, nearly purring.  
  
A familiar chuckle was heard over his head and his head snapped back to meet the relieved gaze of his dad. "Hey, baby bones."  
  
This time the tears spilled over the rims of his sockets out of joy as he buried his face into his dad's chest again. "Dad!" he called out, holding tight. His dad gave him a squeeze, a skele-kiss bouncing against the crown of his skull. "I've got ya," the older skeleton uttered softly. "I've got ya."


	3. Reflection

"Hey."  
  
She looked over, her fingers fluttering uselessly in response in a form of sign language no one understood.  
  
Her visitor interpreted the gesture correctly, though, and settled at her side, arms on the rail in a position that mirrored hers. She turned her attention back on the scene before her, not really seeing much of it. as her mind wandered. Her visitor shifted and she looked over, watching as they pulled out a cigarette packet. She arched an eyebrow at them when they noticed her gaze and she gestured as if to smoke, an incredulous look on her face.  
  
They chuckled. "Hey, you don't know everything about me."  
  
She gave them a flat look. She pointed at the cigarettes before pointing at her visitor and then crossed her arms, hands straight and rigid. It was enough that her visitor understood. They gestured at her with the box. "I do too smoke." She swiped at the box and nearly had it. Her visitor skittered back a few steps. "I just don't smoke around you."  
  
She glared at them before crossing her arms, arching an eyebrow in challenge. Her visitor flinched. "Alright, alright. I stole them from Cronis. I just..." Her visitor looked down at the cigarettes in their hand. "I just wanted to see if they worked how I need them to."  
  
Her entire demeanor softened and she stepped up, placing a hand on their shoulder. They gave her a tired smile. "Guess his death was hard on all of us, huh?"  
  
She nodded, no feeling up to attempting a comforting smile. It wouldn't come out right anyways.  
  
The cigarette box was placed on a nearby table as she waited at the railing. Her visitor came back, resuming the first position they had taken upon arrival. She mirrored them, looking out once more.  
  
The silence wasn't oppressive like it had been with most that had come to be with her. Unlike the others, this particular visitor understood. At least, understood to the extent an outsider could understand. There was no pity, no walking on eggshells. It was nice.  
  
"I can't believe he's really gone," they spoke, their words soft and heavy. She glanced over and took note of the unshed tears in her companion's eyes. She didn't bring any attention to them. It would not surprise her if her companion had yet to truly grief the loss. She had long since run out of tears within the last week. Heck, after the first day. She focused back out onto the view but she didn't really see it. "It's still so surreal. I keep expecting him to be there and then I remember and it's so hard."  
  
She felt a weight being put on her soul and she closed her eyes. He wasn't just hers, she had to remember that. He had been around the others and, while he may have been her twin, he had been friends and family for many others. She was not the only one to have lost.  
  
She still felt irrational rage at the words her companion spoke.  
  
How dare they.  
  
"I can't begin to fathom what your loss is compared to mine, Miko."  
  
Ice flooded her body as the conversation turned in a direction she hated. Her companion didn't look at her, though, and she was grateful for that small amount of mercy.  
  
"He was at your side since birth. He was your voice, your way of communicating with the world. You two had always been together and, while there were times you two had been apart, he always came back and now..." Her companion rubbed at their face. "And now he's just gone."  
  
The words were spoken in a whisper but she heard them clearly and they hurt. They hurt so much. But she didn't have any tears left to cry. Stuck in a sort of painful limbo, she pressed her face into her hand, wallowing in turbulent emotions she had no names for.  
  
A careful hand was placed on her shoulder and she looked up. Her companion was crying. "I'm.....I'm sorry. I don't know how else to say it, to portray what I want to say. Sorry's the best word I've got in my repertoire."  
  
She shrugged, not sure how else to react to that.  
  
Her companion's hand left her shoulder.  
  
There was a sniff from her left but she ignored it. The pain, the anguish, had turned to fury. She was mad at her companion for saying such things. She was mad at everyone for thinking that he had been theirs. She was mad at her brother - her _twin_ \- for abandoning her like that. How could he?! How could he leave her here all alone with no ability to communicate with the world without having to rely on technology?!  
  
How could he leave her like that?! Why did he leave her?!  
  
  
  
Why did he have to die?  
  
  
  
The sobs hurt. Oh, how they hurt. But with no vocal cords to utilize, her sobs were silent screams of anguish, only noises coming from her gasping for breath between every choking sob. Her legs gave out from under her and she slid to the base of the rails, clinging to them like a lifeline as she crumbled. Distantly, she noticed that her companion was still standing but sobbing just as hard, leaning on the rail for more support that they had been earlier. That small part of her that noticed was grateful they were too busy with their own anguish to touch her. She didn't want to be touched, to be comforted like that. Too many had tried comforting her like that when all she wanted was her brother's arms to wrapped around her one last time, his face in her hair and his comforting voice speaking soothing words.  
  
  
  
She hoped her companion wasn't drowning like she was.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
She wished her brother was still alive.  
  
  
She wished he hadn't died.  
  
  
  
  
She wished she had died instead.  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
She had given up on wishing a long time ago.


End file.
